News
Ukraine says it has regained full control of Kyiv as Russians pull back
Factual Pursuit of Truth for Progress
Ukraine said Saturday it has regained control of the Kyiv region, with Russian troops retreating from around the capital and Chernigiv city, as evidence emerged of possible civilian killings in areas the invading forces have been occupying.
AFP reporters saw at least 20 bodies on a single street in the town of Bucha near Kyiv, including one with his hands tied, and the body of a missing photographer was discovered in a nearby village.
“All these people were shot,” Bucha’s mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP, adding that 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves in the town.
As it withdraws from some northern areas, Russia appears to be focusing on eastern and southern Ukraine, where it already holds vast swathes of territory.
“Russia is prioritising a different tactic: falling back on the east and south,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media.
“Without heavy weapons we won’t be able to drive (Russia) out,” he said.
Ukraine authorities nevertheless offered citizens elements of good news Saturday in claiming progress against the Russians more than five weeks after Moscow’s invasion triggered Europe’s worst conflict in decades.
“Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader,” deputy defence minister Ganna Maliar said on Facebook, referring to towns that have been heavily damaged or destroyed by fighting.
President Vladimir Putin ordered tanks into Russia’s pro-Western neighbour on February 24, and Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far.
More than 10 million have had to flee their homes.
Pope Francis spoke of “icy winds of war” again sweeping over Europe as he brought up the conflict Saturday at the outset of his trip to Malta — and made what appeared to be a barely veiled reference to Putin.
“Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts,” the pope said.
A visit to Ukraine’s capital was “still on the table,” Francis added.
Journalist killed ‘with two shots’
Ukrainian authorities said Saturday the body of a well-known photographer, Maks Levin, had been found near a village in the region around Kyiv that had been caught up in the fighting.
“According to preliminary information, unarmed Maxim Levin was killed by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces with two shots from small fire arms,” prosecutors said in a statement on Telegram.
Levin, a 40-year-old father of four, had been reported missing on March 13; the body was found near Guta Mezhygirksa on April 1, officials said.
Non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders said Levin was the sixth journalist killed in the war.
Another NGO, OVD-Info, said Russian police detained 211 people Saturday in several cities, including more than 20 people in a Moscow park under heavy snowfall, at protests against the country’s military operation in Ukraine.
In Bucha, 16 of the 20 corpses found on one street were lying either on the pavement or by the verge. Three were sprawled in the middle of the road, and another lay on his side in the courtyard of a destroyed house.
An open Ukrainian passport lay on the ground next to the person who had his hands tied behind his back with a piece of white cloth. Two other people had white cloth tied around their upper arms.
All were wearing civilian clothes — winter coats, jackets or tracksuit tops, jeans or jogging bottoms, and trainers or boots.
Ukrainian troops, meanwhile, were seen patrolling in armoured vehicles and on foot through the ravaged town, where some women wept as they stood outside their homes.
The International Criminal Court has already opened a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, and several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have accused Putin of being a “war criminal”.
‘Our city doesn’t exist anymore’
Russia’s efforts to consolidate its hold on southern and eastern areas of Ukraine have been hampered by the resistance of Mariupol despite devastating attacks lasting weeks.
At least 5,000 residents have been killed in the besieged southern port city, according to local officials, while the estimated 160,000 who remain face shortages of food, water and electricity.
Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the city earlier arrived Friday in Zaporizhzhia, 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the northwest.
The convoy brought people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Russian-occupied Berdiansk.
“My house was destroyed. I saw it in photos. Our city doesn’t exist anymore,” said Olena, who carried her young daughter in her arms.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team headed to Mariupol to try and conduct an evacuation but was forced to turn back Friday.
The ICRC said its team left again on Saturday, bound for Mariupol to make another attempt.
“They are spending the night en route to Mariupol and are yet to reach the city,” an ICRC spokesperson said.
In another southern city, Enerhodar, which is under Russian control, a Ukrainian official said Russian forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring four with “severe burns”.
Russian troops took control of the city, the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, in early March.
“Today in Enerhodar, city residents gathered again for a rally in support of Ukraine, singing the anthem,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said on Telegram.
“The occupiers used light and noise grenades and opened mortar fire on the residents, four people were injured and severely burned,” she said.
AFP
News
2023: Sylva withdraws presidential bid
Factual Pursuit of Truth for Progress
Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has withdrawn from the presidential race in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and has returned to work.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored development at the ministry in Abuja on Monday reports that Sylva withdrew having considered the enormous work at hand at the ministry.
NAN reports that the Northern Solidarity Group had on May 9, presented the APC’s Expression of Interest and Nomination form to the minister to enable him to contest the party’s 2023 presidential primaries.
An official at the ministry who chose to remain anonymous said Sylva withdrew from the race to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his quest to achieve a robust oil sector.
“He promised to consult the leader of the country and his political leaders the day he was presented with the form.
“He believes that concentrating on his work will attract more investments for the oil and gas sector.
“He has consulted and he believes that the challenges at the ministry and oil and gas sector are enough issues for him to begin to deal with now than going to pursue presidential ambition at the expense of the nation.
“The oil and gas sector is the mainstay of the economy and it is not like any other ministry somebody can just come in and take over.
“It requires some measures of time for the person to understand what is happening in the system.
“For the interest of the industry and the nation, he has decided to wave that personal ambition to see what he can contribute in the remaining part of President Buhari’s administration.
“The implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 is very critical and he wants to continue to make his own contribution to the day-to-day running of the country and support Mr President for robust achievements,” the official said.
Meanwhile, Mr Horatious Egua, Senior Special Assistant to the minister on media, when contacted, confirmed to NAN that the minister was back to work. (NAN)
News
I’m proud of Bello’s development records in Kogi – Hafsat Abiola
Factual Pursuit of Truth for Progress
Ms Hasfat Abiola-Costello, the Director-General, Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, has said she will stand with Governor Yahaya Bello (GYB) of Kogi State in the race for the APC presidential ticket and not South West aspirants.
Abiola-Costello said she is throwing her weight behind Bello because she had seen in him, qualities of the kind of leader Nigeria needed at this point in time.
She said this on Monday while addressing newsmen in Lagos ahead of the APC presidential primaries slated for May 30 and 31, in Abuja.
Abiola-Costello, daughter of the winner of the 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola, said she chose Bello over all other South West aspirants because she had seen in him, a true commitment to the progress of the country.
She also said she is proud of the governor’s records in Kogi.
Abiola-Costello, however, said Bello was a loyal and respectful person, who would carry everyone along after he emerged.
On the economy, she noted that statistics from the World Bank on states’ accountability rating in Nigeria indicated that Kogi ranked top among other states in the country.
She said: “This is a man who met a debt profile of about N135 billion in Kogi when he assumed office in 2016 but had been able to reduce it to about N70 billion.
“This is in addition to his huge investments in education, agriculture, security and infrastructural developments.
“The World Bank accountability ranking of states in Nigeria evaluated Kogi as second in 2017, first in 2020 and 2020.
“The draft report for 2020 shows that Kogi scored 100 per cent in all the areas and from indications, the state will maintain the first position in 2021, judging from the draft report that was released just yesterday.
“I am proud of Bello because of his development records in Kogi. This is a governor that is always looking for progress and the development of the lives of his people.
“This is me, a Yoruba, supporting someone from North Central.
“There is no progress without demands, I lost both my parents, though unfortunately because Nigerians believed in them. I’ve been working with GYB for a while and I have seen that he has the courage and intelligence to deliver Nigeria.”
She said as one of the foremost presidential aspirants of the party, Bello had reached out to party stakeholders in nearly all parts of the country, adding that he stood a better chance to clinch the party’s ticket than others. (NAN)
Entertainment
Ik Osakioduwa’s Biography, Age, Net Worth, Wife, And Education
Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa is a Nigerian radio and television on-air personality. He was known to most just as Wildchild but since his marriage, has been known as simply IK. He is known for his work with Rhythm 93.7 FM, but he is also a presenter on MNet’s Studio 53 and is best known as the presenter of Big Brother Africa. Here’s Ik Osakioduwa Biography, Age, Net worth, Wife, Children, Education, Occupation, etc.
Who is IK?
Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa was born May 21, 1979 in Lagos. His parents are homemaker Felicia Oviawe and Brigadier General Samuel Oviawe, he is the middle child of five children. I.k. started out on stage at a young age, acting in stage plays and being in the choir as early as age 7. At age 15 along with some of his siblings and cousins recorded a tape in which he pretended to be a radio show host taking calls from listeners.
Full name: Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa
Stage name: Ik, Wild Child
Date of birth: May 21, 1979
Age: 43
Place of birth: Lagos
State of origin: Edo State
Nationality: Nigerian
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Spouse: Olohije Osakioduwa (m. 2008)
Parents: Rtd Gen Sam & Mrs. Felicia Oviawe
Children: Osahar and Micah
Siblings: 5
Net worth: $7 million
Education: University of Lagos, King’s College, Lagos
Occupation: On-air personality, TV Presenter, TV Producer, MD Lite Communication Limited
Awards: Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Award for African Broadcaster of the Year (Male)
Social media: [email protected]https://www.instagram.com/ikosakioduwa/
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While studying Ik Osakioduwatook part in many stage plays and concerts, where he discovered and groomed his talent as a Master of Ceremonies/Host. After graduating from University in 2001, Ik Osakioduwa worked for Rhythm 93.7 FM, as a presenter popularly known as The Wild Child (thanks to his humorous and unpredictable personality).
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